SoType(3IV)

NAME
     SoType - stores runtime type information

INHERITS FROM
     SoType

SYNOPSIS
     #include <Inventor/SoType.h>

          Methods from class SoType:

     static SoType       fromName(SbName name)
     SbName              getName() const
     SoType              getParent() const
     static SoType       badType()
     SbBool              isBad() const
     SbBool              isDerivedFrom(SoType t) const
     static int          getAllDerivedFrom(SoType type, SoTypeList &list)
     SbBool              canCreateInstance() const
     void *              createInstance() const
     int                 operator ==(const SoType t) const
     int                 operator !=(const SoType t) const
     int                 operator <(const SoType t) const


DESCRIPTION
     The SoType class keeps track of runtime type information in Inventor.
     Each type is associated with a given name, so lookup is possible in
     either direction.

     Many Inventor classes request a unique SoType when they are initialized.
     This type can then be used to find out the actual class of an instance
     when only its base class is known, or to obtain an instance of a
     particular class given its type or name.

     Note that the names associated with types of Inventor classes do not
     contain the "So" prefix.

METHODS
     static SoType       fromName(SbName name)
          Returns the type associated with the given name.

     SbName              getName() const
          Returns the name associated with a type.

     SoType              getParent() const
          Returns the type of the parent class.

     static SoType       badType()
          Returns an always-illegal type. Useful for returning errors.
     SbBool              isBad() const
          Returns TRUE if the type is a bad type.

     SbBool              isDerivedFrom(SoType t) const
          Returns TRUE if the type is derived from type t.

     static int          getAllDerivedFrom(SoType type, SoTypeList &list)
          Adds all types derived from the given type to the given type list.
          Returns the number of types added.

     SbBool              canCreateInstance() const
          Some types are able to create instances; for example, most nodes and
          engines (those which are not abstract classes) can be created this
          way. This method returns TRUE if the type supports such creation.

     void *              createInstance() const
          Creates and returns a pointer to an instance of the type. Returns
          NULL if an instance could not be created for some reason. The
          pointer is returned as a generic pointer, but can be cast to the
          appropriate type. For example:

               SoCube *c = (SoCube *) SoCube::getClassTypeId().createInstance();

            is a convoluted way of creating a new instance of an SoCube.

     int                 operator ==(const SoType t) const
     int                 operator !=(const SoType t) const
          Returns TRUE if this type is the same as or not the same as the
          given type.

     int                 operator <(const SoType t) const
          Less-than comparison operator that can be used to sort types. This
          is pretty useless otherwise.


SEE ALSO
     SoAction, SoBase, SoDetail, SoError, SoEvent, SoField